Interesting topic.
I believe that UA will not go into chapter 11 however will continue to perform poorly.
This new $2B effort. I can't help to think that it was introduced to muddy the waters and re-set financial objectives / detract from the executive's poor performance in the past.
UA was not doing well when compared to other US carriers which was evident in the most recent quarterly release. By starting another initiative (the $2B effort) that "resets" the comparatives and gives "more time" to try to figure out how to win HVF.
The customer experience is not good and IT system that does not support the business well which filters down to the customer experience.
Last week I had an trip in which SHARES made a sked change that did not meet the minimum connection time. I did not notice until I was making my way back from Germany. The night before I called UA and the agent in SLC would not help by protecting me on a non-stop on another carrier (no space left on UA future flights). Prior to the merger, UA would put me on any carrier from any alliance to get me home The ironic thing is since I originated in FRA the Air Passenger Rights come into play however the agent did not know nor care and to me that is a reflection of the culture of the "new" UA, where the executives don't care about the passengers, which in turn filters down to the front-line staff.
In the end, something has to give.
Happy Travels.
Cheers